Well-being and health in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Vienna Declaration (1993): traditional medicine

Ramon Maria Calduch

 

The ultimate aims of the right to health are to save life, restore health, maintain health and alleviate suffering. It is deeply striking that when scientific medicine, based as much as possible on evidence, has reached the highest degree of efficacy in its history, there is a boom in so-called traditional medicines, considered by an appreciable segment of the population as complementary or plausible alternatives to scientific, Western or modern medicine. In order not to violate people's fundamental rights, it would be necessary for the different countries to become aware of the importance of regulating these therapies, both in their practice and in their teaching, as well as in research, in order to guarantee the protection of their citizens in terms of health. In conclusion, the freedom of therapeutic choice and the regulation of ICTM by States are part of the rights of individuals under international human rights law and, as such, should be guaranteed and can be claimed before the corresponding international bodies when a State fails to comply with them, including the possibility of legal recourse to the courts.